Big Era Five Patterns of Interregional Unity 300

Big Era Five Patterns of Interregional Unity 300 – 1500 C. E. 1

Patterns of Interregional Unity Big Era Five lasted from 300 CE to 1500 CE. Welcome to Big Era Five! 300 CE – 1500 CE Big Era 2 10, 000 BCE Big Era 3 Big Era 4 Big Era 5 Big Era 6 1000 BCE 1800 CE 2

During Big Era Five, many connections were established among regions. These formed interregional patterns of unity. 3

At the start of Big Era Five, numerous inventions, trade goods, ideas, and religions were starting to spread from their regions of origin. 4

By the end of Big Era Five, many of these important ideas and useful things had spread all across Afroeurasia… …That spread of ideas and things is part of cultural exchange. 5

Cultural exchange had many aspects. Population increased and people migrated. People shared ideas across regions. Trade networks expanded and cities grew. Huge empires brought many different groups of people together. 6

Let’s take a closer look at each of these causes of cultural exchange. Population Trade Ideas Empires 7

Population World population grew from about 250 million to 460 million between 200 CE and 1500 CE. 8

Population Were there billions of people living on the earth then as there are now? No, then people were counted only in the millions. A world population of 460 million in 1500 CE is about the same as the population of North America today! 9

Population World Population The population of the Americas was much smaller than the population of Afroeurasia. American Population 10

Population 40 million equals the population of Spain or Colombia today! As a result, cultural exchange in the Americas was less extensive than in Afroeurasia. Less than 40 million people were spread over two huge continents. 11

So, we’ll look at Population cultural exchange in Afroeurasia, and then return to the Americas later. 12

Population growth in Afroeurasia affected the environment. Population Deforestation happened when cities and farming expanded. 13

Population Human impact on the environment had serious effects! • Wood was insufficient for heat, construction, and metal-working. • Soil eroded and degraded. • River flooding devastated villages, farmlands, and cities. • Famines meant people didn’t get enough to eat. 14

Population increases affected the environment. Sometimes, people got up and moved on to new lands. Large groups of people moved around, or migrated. 15

Vikings Population Mongols Germanic Tribes Turkic Groups Chinese Arabs Bantu-Speaking People of Africa People of Oceania People migrated to new places in (and out) of Afroeurasia. 16

Population • Migrating groups moved into other groups’ territories, forcing them to go elsewhere. Migrations encouraged more cultural exchanges across Afroeurasia. • Migrating groups introduced new plants and animals into their new homes. • Migrations diffused technologies for farming, warfare, and crafts. • Migrations diffused languages, styles of living, and arts. 17

Empires Building states and empires involved cultural exchanges in Afroeurasia. During Big Era Five, many states and empires came… and went. 18

Empires New ruling groups built on the foundations of earlier states and empires. 19

Frankish Kingdoms Avar Kingdom Parhae Byzantine Empire Sassanid Empire Sui China Silla Yamoto Japan Harsha’ Empire Chalukya Ghana Axum States and Empires in 600 CE 20

Carolingian Parhae Byzantine Cordoba Caliphate Abbasid Caliphate Gurjara. Pratihara Tang China Silla Heian Japan Ghana Axum Srivijaya States and Empires in 800 CE 21

Scandanavian Kingdoms Russia England France Spain Portugal H. R. E. Poland Mongol Empire Hungary Rum Almohad Caliphate Ayyubid Caliphate Mali Oyo Ethiopia Koryo Delhi Sultanate Sung China Kamakura Japan Angkor Benin Zimbabwe States and Empires in 1237 CE 22

Union of Kalmar Russian States Scotland England France Portugal Poland. Khanate of the Holy Lithuania Golden Horde Roman Empire Hungary Castile Jagatai Khanate Ottoman Emp. Timurid Empire Granada Marinids Hafsids Korea Ming China Ashikaga Japan Mamluk Sultanate Mali Oyo Benin Ethiopia Vijayanagara Zanj City-States Siam Majapahit Zimbabwe States and Empires in 1400 CE 23

Empires How did states and empires stimulate cultural exchanges in Afroeurasia? • Wars led to destruction but produced new inventions. • Strong governments protected trade routes and stabilized currencies. • Royal courts were patrons of science, religious institutions, and arts. • Large states brought together many ethnic, language, and religious groups. 24

Trade was also closely linked to cultural exchange. Empires supported trade in Afroeurasia. Merchants traveled great distances in search of wealth. 25

Trade The number of cities grew, as well as trade networks between them. 26

Trade From 300 -1500 CE, trade routes extended farther and were used by more travelers. 27

• Trade helped spread religions, languages, ideas, and arts. Trade How did expanding trade networks bring about cultural exchanges in Afroeurasia? • Trade stimulated use of natural resources. • Cities and manufacturing centers grew bigger. • Banks, credit, and money systems encouraged regional and long distance trade. 28

Ideas During Big Era Five, universal religions spread across Afroeurasia. Universal religions are belief systems that anyone can join – they’re not limited to any one group. 29

Ideas Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam The spread of universal religions from 300 -1500 CE 30

Who spread these universal religions across Afroeurasia? Ideas Monks spread Buddhism. Traders and Sufi orders spread Islam. Missionaries spread Christianity. 31

How did the spread of religion encourage cultural exchange in Afroeurasia? Ideas • Universal faiths gave members a sense of community beyond political, class, or ethnic identities. • Religious scholars gathered and recorded knowledge and founded institutions of learning. • The spread of religions stimulated production and exchange of arts, literature, philosophy, and the sciences. 32

Ideas What inventions, technologies, products, and ideas were exchanged across Afroeurasia? 33

Scholars studied and spread knowledge in many institutions of learning. Ideas Sung scholar Korean library European astronomer Muslim astronomers 34

Natural sciences developed in many places. Ideas Chinese Muslim Indian European 35

Transport and communication technologies improved. Ideas Sternrudder Lateen sail Books & paper North Arabian camel saddle Stirrup Mapmaking Astrolabe 36

Water & energy technologies were transferred across Afroeurasia. Ideas • Hydraulic systems carried water where expanding cities needed it. • Wheels lifted water to irrigate crops and drain swamps. • Waterwheels, windmills, and triphammers provided energy for pumping, grinding, milling, and pounding. 37

Ideas Crops also diffused across Afroeurasia. Travelers and migrants introduced plants into new regions. People began to grow, eat, and sell these crops. 38

Ideas • Sorghum fattened up folks when this cereal crop spread from eastern Africa to China. • Citrus fruits rolled from Southwest Asia to Spain, celebrated in garden and song. • Cane sugar sweetened a path from India to the Mediterranean. • Cotton wove its way from India to North Africa, Central Asia, and China. • Veggies like spinach, asparagus, and broccoli stirred vitamins into meals across the hemisphere. 39

Ideas • The pace of innovation increased. • Knowledge accumulated more quickly. • Manufacturing and farming productivity increased. • People’s diets and health improved. • Sea travel and transport webs became thicker. How did transfers of technology and products change people’s lives in Afroeurasia? 40

If you had to put the changes in Big Era Five into one sentence, what would it be? You might say that by 1500 CE the world was connected, right? But wait! You still haven’t said much about the Americas! 41

Well…the Americas and Afroeurasia were not yet permanently linked together. …not until 1492. . . When Columbus set sail across the Atlantic. . . 42

The Americas had fewer people than Afroeurasia, and the two land masses were geographically isolated from each other. Developments in the two regions were similar in some ways and different in others. In any case, the Americas were also a region of active human interchange. 43

Cultural development and exchange in the Americas: The Maya, Inca, and Aztec Empires • Sciences like astronomy, mathematics and engineering were developed. • Trade routes connected regions. Mississippian Mica Moche Ceramic • Mining, irrigation, and agricultural technologies developed. • Crops like potatoes, maize, tomatoes, cotton, and chocolate were grown. Mayan Calendar Inca Gold Corn & Potatoes 44

States and Empires in the Americas in 1500 CE Aztec Empire Mayan States Inca Empire 45

At the very end of Big Era Five, European mariners set out on transoceanic voyages to the Americas. Those voyages linked the Americas with Afroeurasia for the first time since the migrations of people over 13, 000 years earlier! It had to happen sooner or later! 46

Cultural exchange in Afroeurasia before 1500 CE made possible the technologies that in turn permitted transoceanic voyages. Mapmaking Sternrudder Lateen Sail Compass Is that why people from Afroeurasia discovered the Americas, and not the opposite? 47

In Big Era Six, we’ll see learn about the explosive things that happened when migration, empires, trade, and ideas started moving around the entire globe. End of Big Era Five 48